What Sudha Murthy did when called the “Cattle Class” at Heathrow Airport

[GullyBoy]

 

For those who are not aware, Sudha Murthy is a Philanthropist, a founding member and Chairman of Infosys Foundation and also associated with Gates Foundation. The following is an excerpt from her book ‘Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives’.

Last year, I was at the Heathrow International Airport in London about to board a flight. Usually, I wear a sari even when I am abroad, but I prefer wearing a salwar kameez while travelling. So there I was — a senior citizen dressed in typical Indian apparel at the terminal gate. Since the boarding hadn’t started, I sat down and began to observe my surroundings. The flight was bound for Bengaluru and so I could hear people around me chatting in Kannada. I saw many old married couples of my age — they were most likely coming back from the US or UK after helping their children either through childbirth or a new home. I saw some British business executives talking to each other about India’s progress. Some teenagers were busy with the gadgets in their hands while the younger children were crying or running about the gate.

After a few minutes, the boarding announcement was made and I joined the queue. The woman in front of me was a well-groomed lady in an Indo-Western silk outfit, a Gucci handbag and high heels. Every single strand of her hair was in place and a friend stood next to her in an expensive silk sari, pearl necklace, matching earrings and delicate diamond bangles. I looked at the vending machine nearby and wondered if I should leave the queue to get some water.

Suddenly, the woman in front of me turned sideways and looked at me with what seemed like pity in her eyes. Extending her hand, she asked, ‘May I see your boarding pass, please?’

I was about to hand over my pass to her, but since she didn’t seem like an airline employee, I asked, ‘Why?’

‘Well, this line is meant for business class travellers only,’ she said confidently and pointed her finger towards the economy class queue. ‘You should go and stand there,’ she said.

I was about to tell her that I had a business class ticket, but on second thoughts, held back. I wanted to know why she had thought that I wasn’t worthy of being in the business class. So I repeated, ‘Why should I stand there?’

She sighed. ‘Let me explain. There is a big difference in the price of an economy and a business class ticket. The latter costs almost two and a half times more than . . .’I think it is three times more,’ her friend interrupted. ‘Exactly,’ said the woman. ‘So there are certain privileges that are associated with a business class ticket.’

‘Really?’ I decided to be mischievous and pretended not to know.

‘What kind of privileges are you talking about?’

She seemed annoyed. ‘We are allowed to bring two bags but you can only take one. We can board the flight from another, less-crowded queue. We are given better meals and seats. We can extend the seats and lie down flat on them. We always have television screens and there are four washrooms for a small number of passengers.’

Her friend added, ‘A priority check-in facility is available for our bags, which means they will come first upon arrival and we get more frequent flyer miles for the same flight.’

‘Now that you know the difference, you can go to the economy line,’ insisted the woman.

‘But I don’t want to go there.’ I was firm.

The lady turned to her friend. ‘It is hard to argue with these cattle-class people. Let the staff come and instruct her where to go. She isn’t going to listen to us.’

I didn’t get angry. The word ‘cattle class’ was like a blast from the past and reminded me of another incident. One day, I had gone to an upscale dinner party in my home city of Bengaluru. Plenty of local celebrities and socialites were in attendance. I was speaking to some guests in Kannada, when a man came to me and said very slowly and clearly in English, ‘May I introduce myself ? I am . . .’

It was obvious that he thought that I might have a problem understanding the language.

I smiled. ‘You can speak to me in English.’

‘Oh,’ he said, slightly flabbergasted. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you weren’t comfortable with English because I heard you speaking in Kannada.’

‘There’s nothing shameful in knowing one’s native language. It is, in fact, my right and my privilege. I only speak in English when somebody can’t understand Kannada.’

The line in front of me at the airport began moving forward and I came out of my reverie. The two women ahead were whispering among themselves, ‘Now she will be sent to the other line. It is so long now! We tried to tell her but she refused to listen to us.’

When it was my turn to show my boarding pass to the attendant, I saw them stop and wait a short distance away, waiting to see what would happen. The attendant took my boarding pass and said brightly, ‘Welcome back! We met last week, didn’t we?’

‘Yes,’ I replied. She smiled and moved on to the next traveller.

I walked a few steps ahead of the women intending to let this go, but then I changed my mind and came back.

‘Please tell me, what made you think that I couldn’t afford a business class ticket? Even if I didn’t have one, was it really your prerogative to tell me where I should stand? Did I ask you for help?’

The women stared at me in silence.

‘You refer to the term “cattle class”. Class does not mean possession of a huge amount of money,’ I continued, unable to stop myself from giving them a piece of my mind.

‘There are plenty of wrong ways to earn money in this world. You may be rich enough to buy comfort and luxuries, but the same money doesn’t define class or give you the ability to purchase it. Mother Teresa was a classy woman. So is Manjul Bhargava, a great mathematician of Indian origin. The concept that you automatically gain class by acquiring money is an outdated thought process.’

I left without waiting for a reply.

 

[jbourne]

ilantivi chala chusam ee DB lo 
https://nypost.com/2017/12/08/man-hilariously-takes-down-racist-woman-at-airport/

[Spartan]

ok

[devarakonda]

Nice post

[GullyBoy]

17 minutes ago, jbourne said:

ilantivi chala chusam ee DB lo 
 

2009 ninchi masala posts padutunnai.. avi paddappudu eppudaina annava ila 

[nallajamoon]

mother theresa was a b**ch, danni revere chese sudha murthy might belong to the same category. 

husband already pedda mestri 

[lovemystate]

ee b*tch ki privelege thelidha ? she was born in brahmin community the definition of privelge. She can walk in to any temple and any place in india no one will object. Great she suffered something there and was able to gave them back something. But even now the priests come only from their community, 40 percent of board members in indian pvt corporate sector comes from her community. So she pretending not to understand privelge is a bit rich. Maybe the bangalore expert @pamogudu can tell.

[No_body_friends]

Antey h1,opt desi gaalu chese cheap panulu cheskovacha ? Without any ibbandhi?

[nallajamoon]

9 minutes ago, lovemystate said:

ee b*tch ki privelege thelidha ? she was born in brahmin community the definition of privelge. She can walk in to any temple and any place in india no one will object. Great she suffered something there and was able to gave them back something. But even now the priests come only from their community, 40 percent of board members in indian pvt corporate sector comes from her community. So she pretending not to understand privelge is a bit rich. Maybe the bangalore expert @pamogudu can tell.

baa cheppavu, inka ochi ikkada kontha mandi lectures istharu aagu maturity ani sollu ani hatred ani blah blah blah. just wait for it

[pamogudu]

3 hours ago, lovemystate said:

ee b*tch ki privelege thelidha ? she was born in brahmin community the definition of privelge. She can walk in to any temple and any place in india no one will object. Great she suffered something there and was able to gave them back something. But even now the priests come only from their community, 40 percent of board members in indian pvt corporate sector comes from her community. So she pretending not to understand privelge is a bit rich. Maybe the bangalore expert @pamogudu can tell.

Arey have you met her personally? Oorike moragaku. She is a very genuine and nice person. I have met her a lot of times . My mom is in the board of directors in one of the ngos she is actively part of. Do you know how many poor students  she helps each year ? Do you know how many poor families she helps via her ngo by providing basic facilities ? Do you know how many village she helped rehabilitate in Karnataka , Andhra and Tamil nadu,? Rey neelantollu will obviously say she is doimg that to save tax. Neelantollaki gajji thappa vere yedho kanapadadu. Velli Mee nakka gaadidhi @Scheku. Thoo nee bathukantha itta hatred thone gadipeyyi. I'm not complete bashing you. I'll be back in two hours hoping this thread will not be closed.

[ram4a]

4 hours ago, nallajamoon said:

mother theresa was a b**ch, danni revere chese sudha murthy might belong to the same category. 

husband already pedda mestri 

 

3 hours ago, lovemystate said:

ee b*tch ki privelege thelidha ? she was born in brahmin community the definition of privelge. She can walk in to any temple and any place in india no one will object. Great she suffered something there and was able to gave them back something. But even now the priests come only from their community, 40 percent of board members in indian pvt corporate sector comes from her community. So she pretending not to understand privelge is a bit rich. Maybe the bangalore expert @pamogudu can tell.

Gudisey Batch

[lovemystate]

1 minute ago, pamogudu said:

Arey have you met her personally? Oorike moragaku. She is a very genuine and nice person. I have met her a lot of times . My mom is in the board of directors in one of the ngos she is actively part of. Do you know how many poor students  she helps each year ? Do you know how many poor families she helps via her ngo by providing basic facilities ? Do you know how many village she helped rehabilitate in Karnataka , Andhra and Tamil nadu,? Rey neelantollu will obviously say she is doimg that to save tax. Neelantollaki gajji thappa vere yedho kanapadadu. Velli Mee nakka gaadidhi @Scheku. Thoo nee bathukantha itta hatred thone gadipeyyi. I'm not complete bashing you. I'll be back in two hours hoping this thread will not be closed.

Neee chuttama - how do you know she is personally genuince and nice. She coming from a brahmin community and claiming not to understand privelge or discrimination is ridiculous. Gaadidhi guddu chesindhile help poor people ke. Almost every industrialist does it for reputation and tax savings. It wont meaningfully change anything especially with the toxicity of their caste system for which either they dont oppose or tactily encourage.  Carefully married dauther and son in to other brahmin communities, son-in-law is an british citizen. daughter in law comes from Iyer/Iyengar in chennai.

[JambaKrantu]

3 hours ago, lovemystate said:

ee b*tch ki privelege thelidha ? she was born in brahmin community the definition of privelge. She can walk in to any temple and any place in india no one will object. Great she suffered something there and was able to gave them back something. But even now the priests come only from their community, 40 percent of board members in indian pvt corporate sector comes from her community. So she pretending not to understand privelge is a bit rich. Maybe the bangalore expert @pamogudu can tell.

Arey fichi fooka noru undani andarini tittatamena..

[lovemystate]

1 minute ago, JambaKrantu said:

Arey fichi fooka noru undani andarini tittatamena..

Legitimate comment with a yearning for justice ra yerri pook. Nee lanti dhed dimag gaadiki endhukule. Elli troll chesuko po.

[lovemystate]

There is one fellow called mohandas pai who is a co-fouder of infosys and rants super sensitively on his brahmin caste. He wanted children in banaglore not to be fed onions or eggs (onions!!! - what kind of weird people these are - will you run in to anyone in the world who would weaponize serving onions to children - it is a strange community) using state money because the vendor is jain something. I never heard this bullshitting lady dissacoiating with such vermin. Spreading some chillar to poor people while working to maintain caste hegemony is not "genuinely nice".